Over time, the value of stocks can go up and down. Bond prices fluctuate with interest rates, as do other types of fixed-income securities such as certificates of deposit and investments in money-market accounts. Predicting which investment vehicles are likely to perform better than others at any given point time is next to impossible. So how do you choose investments for your portfolio?

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If all goes according to plan, Ruston’s Board of Aldermen will adopt the city’s 2016 budget Tuesday night.

The proposed $57 million spending plan for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, is Mayor Ronny Walker’s administration’s first attempt at figuring out how to a keep a municipality of slightly over 22,000 people humming along.

Walker wasn’t looking forward to doing the budget.

“I was dreading the budget more than anything else, but it may have been one the easiest parts of the job,” the first-term mayor said.

Put another way, there are highly talented and great persons within our midst of whom we are unaware or take for granted. Yet right in front of our very eyes are bright lights of acclaim and greatness. It is amazing to me that this talent has blessed this community with his presence, work and complete dedication.